Cops on toes to protect women

SANDIP BAL

Bhubaneswar, Jan. 2: Cuttack-Bhubaneswar police plan to accord more importance to the safety of women in the city by deploying more policemen and intensifying patrolling.

Director-general of police Prakash Mishra said the security of women would be the utmost concern for the police along with providing security to senior citizens and people belonging to weaker sections.

He was speaking on the fifth commemoration day of the Cuttack-Bhubaneswar police.

He said the state capital had expanded and its population had grown manifold, but the strength of the police force had not been increased during this transformation period. The shortage would be fulfilled by new recruitments, which would be made very soon.

Besides police control room vans, stress would be on beat patrolling by two-wheelers, particularly on the outskirts.

“We want to develop a sense of security among people. We have plans to recruit around 700 personnel in the auxiliary force by the end of January this year. This will not only reduce pressure on the existing manpower but also help build a safe environment for people, particularly women, as these personnel will be deployed mostly in patrolling activities,” said Mishra. He said the extra armed forces from the Maoist-affected areas would be removed and deployed in these activities, as the Maoist menace had dwindled to a certain extent.

Mishra said the officers had been instructed to deal with crime against women sensibly and investigate properly.

The cops have zoned in on some reasons that have led to the increase in crimes against women and have planned to crack the whip on these activities. Stringent action will be taken against liquor shops that do not stick to the time limit and dhabas and other eateries that sell liquor illegally.

Mishra also hinted at action against vulgar songs being produced here. “Many people have complained about vulgar CDs and album songs in Odisha. I think action should be taken against them,” said the state top cop. He said the profiling of autorickshaws in Bhubaneswar would continue, as this would help in tracking crime.

Recently, many crimes in autorickshaws have been reported. On December 31, a woman was allegedly robbed by an autorickshaw driver and thrown off the moving vehicle at Rasulgarh. A teenaged girl was molested by two passengers in a running autorickshaw and was thrown off at Delta Square on December 24 last year. The cops arrested the autorickshaw drivers in both cases after garnering information from data profiles.

Though the installation of closed-circuit television cameras at various traffic junctions and major roads in the state capital had been proposed two years ago to keep tabs on criminal activities and traffic violations, Mishra said lack of funds had delayed the project. “The work has been assigned to the Odisha State Police Housing and Welfare Corporation and we will implement it this year,” said Mishra.